Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to power management of integrated circuits (ICs) used in electronic devices and, more specifically, to switching a power source for a circuit to a lower voltage level to reduce power consumption.
Description of Related Art
Power consumption is an increasingly important concern in the design and use of electronic devices. From a global perspective, a multitude of electronic devices available for businesses and consumers consume significant amounts of power. Accordingly, efforts are made to lower the power consumption of electronic devices to help conserve the earth's resources and lower costs for both businesses and consumers. From an individual perspective, the prevalence of electronic devices that are powered by batteries continues to increase. The less energy that is consumed by a portable battery-powered personal computing device, for instance, the longer the portable battery-powered device may operate without recharging the battery. Lower energy consumption also enables the use of smaller batteries and therefore the adoption of smaller and thinner form factors for portable electronic devices. Consequently, the popularity of portable electronic devices also provides a strong motivation to lower the power consumption of electronic devices.
Generally, if an electronic device operates at a lower voltage, the electronic device consumes less power. Hence, one conventional approach to reducing power consumption involves lowering a voltage that powers an electronic device. For example, over the last couple of decades voltages powering integrated circuits (ICs) of electronic devices have been lowered from approximately five volts (5V) to approximately one volt (1V) as process technologies for manufacturing the integrated circuits have advanced. Other conventional approaches have been developed that support the changing of one power supply to different voltage levels at different times. These conventional approaches, however, may use an amount of power that is significantly greater than is necessary to provide different voltages to an integrated circuit.